Ash’s Foreword

For today’s Community Blog, I’m so excited to introduce Cat from Pure Cakes. Cat and I go way back, from being undergrads as Glasgow Uni together and meeting at our first Glasgow ArchSoc function. We bonded over a love of the past, Elvis, and cheese. We’re a bit older now and we’ve seen each other grow and become business women! We still both love Elvis, we unfortunately can’t eat as much cheese as we used to, and we still love archaeology.

Take it away Cat!

Hey! I’m Cat and I’m the owner of Pure Cakes, a small Glasgow based baking business specialising in sugar cookies and celebration cakes. I’ve been baking for as long as I can remember - baking is my passion, a pipe dream turned reality and a huge part of my life. However, my heart shares another love - archaeology. In fact, I have an undergraduate and Masters degree in archaeology and pursued a career in archaeology. So how did I get from archaeology to making delicious decorated biscuits?

I have adored archaeology almost as long as I have baking. I was always interested in history, and as often is the case, Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece were my gateway into the world of archaeology. My Mother and Grandmother were also extremely interested in archaeology, and fanned the fire of my interest whenever possible. I remember so clearly the moment I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt I wanted to be an archaeologist. My Mum and I were visiting the Palace of Knossos in Crete, and it was there that I knew. It had been a hectic, busy day, but there was a moment of absolute calm and peace within the chaos as I stared in awe at the beautiful mosaics in the palace, and I thought to myself: "this is it. This is IT". At that point I thought I knew without a shadow of a doubt what my future would hold. I wonder what ten year old Cat would say if she saw into the future and saw how different life would turn out.

Kincladie Wood Dig!

Myself and Ash being Vikings

Archaeology Trip to Perthshire

This drive never went away, and quickly I had my whole career planned out. I was looking at potential university courses by the time I was fifteen, I made sure I picked the right subjects at school, worked hard and eventually got into Archaeology BSc at University of Glasgow - I actually got rejected from the course, and I emailed the university telling them just how much I wanted a place on that course, amongst other things. There was always a fear that I’d been waiting to do this course for almost a decade, and would it live up to what I thought it was? Turned out yes it did and more so.

My time period of interest is Scottish Neolithic, and I have a huge interest in Orkney, but my main love is Public Archaeology. Sometimes known as community archaeology, this is looking critically at how the public perceive archaeology, how archaeology is shown to the public (think museums, TV, films etc.), how the sector can improve, and help people engage with their own heritage and beyond. I went on to study my Masters in Public Archaeology at University College London.

2015, working as a Trainee Supervisor at Dunnock, Dunning, a small hillfort.

2016, Undergrad dissertation hand in - a huge relief

2017, my Masters hand in for a huge team project!

Life after university wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. I knew archaeology was a hard sector to break into, the museum and heritage sector even harder. Museum jobs are few and far between, and mostly in London. At this point, I had had enough of London, I still loved the city, but the cost of living made it impossible to live there happily for any length of time, and so I chose my happiness over potential jobs. Myself and my now fiancé were pining for home, and so back to Glasgow we went. From there I worked in retail, and applied to anything heritage related I could, but the jobs and opportunities just weren’t there. During this period I felt guilt, shame, a lot of anger and a lot of sadness. I felt that my experience at university was a waste of time, that I had wasted my future. My carefully planned out life was falling apart in my hands.

At the start of 2020 I caught wind of The Dream Job. The Impossible Job. The type of job in the heritage and museum world that comes around once in a blue moon, if you’re lucky. While I was waiting for the job advert to appear, something else quite unusual and unexpected appeared instead. Covid-19. Just like that, the future was once again a murky, uncertain ocean.

From then, I had grown tired and weary of waiting for my life to change. I became sick to the stomach feeling like I had no control over my future, sick of waiting for jobs to come up, and getting rejected. And if by some miracle I did get a job in archaeology, would I even be any good at it anymore? The pandemic forced me to step back and re-evaluate what’s important in my life, the type of life I wanted to have. More than anything, I wanted a life filled with joy, absolute and uncontained. And so, I did something that I still can’t believe I did: I started a business.

Baking Beginnings…

2011, I perfected my cheescake recipe!

2012, trying new piping nozzles!

2017, first dabble with fondant!

Meanwhile, I’d been honing my baking skills. Sure, I’ve been baking since I can remember, long before that ten year old version of myself decided her future career. I had always found peace and joy in baking, and relished in the delicious success of every bake that I made. Delicious, yes, but I could not decorate a cake to save myself. After I got engaged in 2018, I decided I would spend the next two years before my wedding learning how to decorate cakes so that I could make my own wedding cake. I invested in equipment and time, and my safe, old reliable love for baking grew so much deeper as my skillset grew wider. I… was good at this. Not perfect, not the best, but good. Over the last year the thought occurred to me that I was good enough to take control and go out on my own. I spent a long time being unsure if this is something I could do, after all I’m not a business woman, I’m an archaeologist! What I realised over time was that everything I have done up until this point had prepared me to begin my own business, and I just had to take the jump. For someone with underlying control and self-confidence issues (if you’ve not been able to tell thus far), this was one of the most terrifying things I have ever done.

So, where am I now? I have been running Pure Cakes since November 2020, and in this short space of six months my outlook on what life is supposed to be has shifted. I am finding real value in what I do, and also in myself and my capabilities. Imposer syndrome still rears its head some days, but I try to channel that uncertainty into growing my business. When I first started, I bought enough packaging (all plastic free!) to make twelve boxes of biscuits. I didn't even think I would break even on the packaging. But I did, and I have had the most rewarding six months of my life. I have been blown away by the support I have received and the community I am growing. I'm not a success story, and I'm still learning every single day what it takes to run a small business. I work harder than I ever have in my life, and that’s saying something. But for the first time in a very long time I have found joy in my work, and I have found a lot of happiness within myself.

We are programmed from a young age that you live to work. "What do you want to be when you grow up?" we ask children, laughing at their big almost-impossible dreams of astronauts and footballers, and throughout our adult lives we ask each other: "What do you do?" - I can't tell you how many times I winced at that question. Well, I don't want to live to work. I want to find joy in what I choose to do every day. I have spent the best part of my life thinking that what I do for a living defines me -this societal narrative needs to change, and I've started with me.

There is no success without failure, that’s what they say. Except, I don't think I’ve failed, not anymore at least. I worked very hard at something I loved. I gained an under-grad and post-grad degree. I moved from my parent’s house to a flat with strangers in London. I've met countless extraordinary people that inspire me every day. Archaeology has grown me as a person, and its set me up for the next part of my life. Is it over? I hope not. But if it is, then that's okay too. I hope my business has longevity, and I will continue to work incredibly hard to ensure that it does – but if one day I hang up my apron and turn my hand to something else, I will know without a shadow of a doubt that I have not failed, because nothing we do in life is failure if we have learned from it, loved it and if we are better for doing it.